Hundreds of Orthodox residents of Rockland County, including many Haredim, assembled at an event headlined by U.S. representative Mike Lawler on Sunday to show support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas.

The event, held at the Rockland Community College campus in Suffern, brought together a diverse group from across the Orthodox Jewish spectrum, including members of the Hasidic, non-Hasidic Haredi, and Modern Orthodox communities. Endorsed by local rabbis, the event began with an outdoor rally of public prayers, singing, and chanting. It was followed by an indoor town hall meeting hosted by Lawler, a Republican congressman who represents part of the Hudson Valley, including Rockland County.

Earlier that day, the rally and town hall meeting were promoted as an Orthodox event, with the rally expected to be devoted to prayers, singing, and reciting Psalms. An email blast from the Monsey Mevaser newspaper stated, “All who take to the podium will be frum Yidden,” using the Yiddish term for religiously observant Jews. The e-blast also urged attendees to counter “the hate-filled group ‘Rockland for Palestine,’” which it accused of planning to “spew their hatred outside.”

The rally portion of the event was spirited. Waving U.S. and Israeli flags, attendees lined a road inside the campus, with some parts of the group praying and singing while others chanted “No ceasefire” and “Bring them home.” Later, attendees listened to several speakers, though the speakers’ voices were often drowned out by Jewish music blasting from a nearby car.

As Lawler emerged, the crowd broke into a chant “We like Mike!”

“There can be no ceasefire,” Lawler said in remarks to the crowd. Invoking Winston Churchill, he declared, “Hamas must be eliminated.” Lawler criticized colleagues who used the phrase “from the river to the sea” and said he watched the raw footage of the attacks, noting that the attackers “had glee on their faces.”

While the Haredi community has historically identified as non-Zionist, with some groups fiercely opposed to Zionism, many still feel strong affection toward Israel, where many have family members, and where they often visit. In recent years, many in the Haredi community have also begun leaning increasingly toward right-wing political views. 

One Haredi attendee told Shtetl that while he supports Israel, he doesn’t identify as a Zionist. “I’m a Jew,” the man said. “I have family that live over there.”

Moshe Gruber, who grew up in the Satmar Hasidic community, was pleased to see different parts of the Orthodox community unite. “It was nice to see people coming together,” he told Shtetl. 

The town hall itself was closed to members of the press, but Gruber described some of Lawler’s responses to audience questions. “Every life lost is a tragedy,” Lawler said, according to Gruber. “What it would take at this point would pretty much be for Hamas to surrender.”

“We want to make sure that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace, but the only oppressor of the Palestinian people has been Hamas,” Lawler told News 12 at the event. 

Lawler, elected in 2022 with significant Orthodox support, serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversees decisions related to national security.

The topics at the town hall weren’t limited to the Israel-Hamas war.

In response to a question from an audience member about potentially subsidizing private school tuition, Lawler said he didn’t think “New York would agree to having school choice anytime soon,” according to Gruber. Lawler added that he would work to advance federal legislation to allow for some tax deductions for those who pay private school tuition.

Lawler also said he supports increased funding for the East Ramapo Central School District, a public school district in Rockland that is led by local Haredi parents whose children attend private schools, and which has been in financial turmoil for over a decade.

Nate Soule, a spokesperson for Lawler, said the congressman fielded “a wide variety of topics,” and added that Lawler stayed late after the meeting “to interact one-on-one with attendees who had additional questions.”

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Read more in Shtetl:

Here’s what Haredi leaders in New York are saying about the attacks in Israel

Large numbers of Haredim join thousands of all stripes at DC rally to support Israel

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